


Failed Plan, Happy Family

by R_E_R6



Series: Tales As Old As Tine's AKA My Buddietine's Week Entries [3]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Appendicitis, Buddietines Week, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Feels, Happy Ending, Hospitalization, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Moving In Together, Sick Child, Valentine's Day, brief mention of surgery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:40:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22719322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/R_E_R6/pseuds/R_E_R6
Summary: Eddie had it all planned out. Reservations were confirmed, his suit was freshly cleaned and hanging on the back of his bedroom door and his speech was prepared. All he had to do was wait for Buck to show up at six sharp so they could go. Everything was set.He hadn’t planned for this.In which Chis gets sick and dates get cancelled, but family prevailsBuddietine's week promptDay 5 -Valentine's Day Gone Wrong
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Series: Tales As Old As Tine's AKA My Buddietine's Week Entries [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1629382
Comments: 19
Kudos: 263





	Failed Plan, Happy Family

Eddie had it all planned out. Reservations were confirmed, his suit was freshly cleaned and hanging on the back of his bedroom door and his speech was prepared. All he had to do was wait for Buck to show up at six sharp so they could go. Everything was set.

He hadn’t planned for this.

Christopher sobbed again, arms still tightly wrapped around his stomach and tears streaming down his face. It was gut-wrenching to see his son in such pain and Eddie’s eyes were filled with tears of their own as he sat helplessly with his arms wrapped around his son’s shivering form. He’d had a stomach ache the previous night that hadn’t faded by morning, only growing more and more painful throughout the day. Eddie hadn’t wanted to be the dad that panics when his kid gets a small stomach bug but it’s becoming evident something else is at play here.

“I think I’m gonna be sick again dad” came the pain-filled rasp that made him sound even smaller than he felt enveloped by Eddie’s arms. Eddie immediately loosened his hold, one arm reaching for the empty bin beside him. Seeing Christopher’s face contort in disgust pained Eddie, the young boy’s wimpers stabbing him right in the chest as he clenches his fists over his stomach. Eddie couldn’t remember a time he’d ever felt this helpless.

Running his hands through Christopher’s sweat-dampened hair to unstick the strands from his forehead, Eddie found his hand shaking with barely-contained panic.

“Put this in your mouth, buddy” Eddie gently coaxed Christopher to let him take his temperature again and cursed the fact that the number is still rising.

Christopher croaked out “That’s a bad word dad” through his tears and Eddie tried to calm his own anguish.

“I know, I'm sorry Superman” he grimaced, trying to keep his voice steady, not wanting to make Christopher feel any worse than is inevitable when he says “We’re going to have to get you to the hospital Buddy”

Christopher clutched Eddie’s arm, and Eddie pulled him in tighter, lifting him as he stood to gather their things. 

  
  


“Eddie I came as soon as I got your message, how is he? Do they know what’s wrong?”

The weight on his shoulder lightens as Buck rushes forward and wraps his arms across them. Eddie sinks into the embrace relieved to feel the tension ease if only slightly. Buck’s eyes are wild with worry, looking dishevelled in his deep blue suit pants and untucked shirt that he’d paired with olive green sneakers in his rush to get out the door.

“They’ve literally just taken him through a second ago, suspected appendicitis. I’m following in a sec I just- They rushed him through so fast Buck I didn’t know what to do, I don’t want him to see me like this and stress out. God I panicked Buck, he just looked o-”

Eddie's cries cut off as Buck squeezes him tighter, instructing him to breathe. Eddie’s shocked to find that it’s easier to do when Buck reminds him. It was simple and instinctive yet with all the worry overwhelming him it was like Eddie had forgotten how to breathe properly. 

“Okay. You need to pull yourself together, babe. He’s a fighter, he’ll be fine. We’re going to go in there and we’re going to be strong for him because he might be hurting too much to be strong. We’re going to tell him that’s okay and that he’s going to be fine. He will be fine”

Eddie’s baffled by how much easier the task sounds with Buck beside him.

“Appendicitis, yeah he’s in surgery now they didn’t want to risk waiting. No, you’re fine there’s no point us all waiting around here, I’ll let you know when he’s out”

“Maddie again?” Eddie’s voice was tired, in fact all of him was tired. The exhaustion sank deep into his bones and settled in his ankles. He probably should have stood from his slumped crouch when the ache had first set in but his huddled perch against the wall was more comfortable than fidgeting restlessly in the waiting room chairs. Buck had taken the option of pacing back and forth, unable to find any comfort in being still no matter where he sat.

“Yeah, still wants to come here”

“No point” Eddie echoes, he knows Buck just said it but his mind is too occupied with anxiety for his son to add anything meaningful to the conversation. All they've been doing is brooding, each lost in their own heads. Every now and then one would try filling the silence but the conversation never lasted past a few mumbled words, both becoming distracted as their stilted small talk trails off once again.

It’s another two minutes before Bucks gets bored of pacing and once again tries sitting. This time he forgoes the chairs and huddles next to Eddie. His ankles groan as Buck adjusts them both, pulling Eddie into his chest so he’s seated fully on the floor with both of their legs stretched in front of them.

“He’ll be okay. We’re both just stressing over nothing. He’s going to laugh at us for it when he gets out of surgery” Buck predicts. Eddie snorts quietly, leaning into Buck more, relishing in the mild comfort; his arms wrap around Buck’s waist and he takes a more settled breath once Buck reciprocates the embrace. 

“Probably” Eddie agrees, then chuckles as he remarks “You know I should have known it was his appendix. I know all the symptoms, my brain was just too scrambled with thoughts of the worst case scenario that I forgot logic existed”

“Yeah well, you were worried. It’s normal to panic” 

His head is nodding absently, knowing Buck is right. It helps to dissipate the feeling of failure in his chest and Eddie once again finds himself watching Buck in wonder, baffled by how easily Buck can calm the grappling winds of anxiety and insecurity that blow through him. The two remain like that, leaning on each other physically and emotionally, until the doctor informs them that Chris is in recovery and doing just fine. 

“I’m sorry” is the groggy muttering that greets them when Christopher opens his eyes.

“Woah, you have nothing to be sorry for!” Buck instists, drowning out Eddie’s confused “Sorry for what?”

“I made you miss your date. Now Buck won’t move in with us”

Eddie’s heart melts as he moves closer to the small boy and rubs a hand over his hair chuckling softly “Buddy don’t worry about that okay? That’s just the meds talking. We wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but here with you right now”

He doesn’t ask if Buck agrees. He doesn’t need to. He had long since come to the realisation that Buck loved Christopher as much as Eddie himself did, but still Buck stands at his side and assures Christopher that Eddie is right. It’s exactly the reason Eddie had wanted to ask Buck to move in. He wants moments like these. Not in the hospital, of course, but of the three of them together carrying out their day to day lives in perfect harmony, side by side. 

“I know, but I really want Buck to move in with us so-” 

Christopher didn’t get to finish his sentence. As soon as his lower lip began to quiver Buck was spurred into action, engulfing Chris in his loving arms and placing a stroking hand through Christopher’s curls.

“Chris, I’m not going to miss out on living with my two best guys just because you went to the hospital. In fact I want to live with you even more now, I need to make sure you get better”

Eddie heart pounds in his chest at the implication and his hand reaches out to tug on the bottom of Buck’s untucked shirt.

“So, is that a yes?”

The look Buck shoots Eddie is teasing, playfulness spilling out in his voice, “Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you’d asked a question”

“Move in with us” Eddie doesn’t phrase it as a question, after all he knows it's just a formality. He’s fought many insecurities over the years when it came to relationships and parenting, but this he is absolutely certain of. He doesn’t need to ask. He knows Buck’s answer and he knows it’s the right thing to do; they belong together as a family and he’s all too aware that Buck knows it too.

Christopher’s giggles light up the room when Buck rolls his eyes and both men immediately feel lighter. Everything really is going to be okay.

“I might as well” Buck jokes “It’s not like I’m ever at the apartment. My home is already with you guys. With my family”

It’s not the valentine’s day they had planned, not by a long shot. Standing here though, together as a family, they couldn't ask for anything better.


End file.
